Apple iPhone 4S - 16GB - Black (Verizon) Smartphone

A bit late to review but 1yr of using the iPhone 4S and I'm ready to let it rip. 

I received as a gift an unlocked iPhone 4S 16GB Black color version bought from Singapore. Not sure how different or what differences it would have with one purchased here in US but I guess there would not be much. 

First thing I noted was that the seller had fixed the front and back of the phone with transparent screen protectors. To this day I have kept it as is and it still looks brand new. However the screen protector is generally deemed unnecessary for the iPhones as many claim the screen is scratch resistant. Without the screen protector the touchscreen motions are more fluid so it seems. 

While slightly heavy at about 5oz I love the professional steel body type of look as opposed to phones with more plastic around it. A good phone cover is needed to protect the steel band which goes around the iPhone since its bound to leave scratch marks if not taken care properly. For that reason I bought a $15 leather flip case branded LL (Limited Luxury). Although it securely held the phone while having the appropriate openings for switches, buttons and charging socket the case itself looked cheap! Haven't bothered to replace it yet. 

Main usage
Calls, txt messaging, camera for still pictures and apps.

Not used much for listening to music, record video and other fancy features like siri.

Calls
Love every bit of the call features including the contact features. The volume buttons and silence switch on the left top side of the phone is within easy reach to adjust during calls. At the highest volume the speaker doesn't crackle which indicates a good quality in built speaker system. With apps like Syncme you can dress up your contacts with auto sync with your facebook account contacts. The Syncme app will grab the contact images and whatever profile information (address, phone numbers, email etc) available. 

The call screen has 6 options appearing which lets you access the keypad, speakerphone, mute, add call, facetime and contacts. Add call is for conferencing and Facetime is for video calling. Never used those 2 features during the past year.  

One of the annoying things about the iphone is when you answer a call the screen should automatically deactivate to prevent your ear touching any of the above mentioned 6 options displayed during the call.  This happens through the proximity sensor installed in the phone. However it sometimes works and sometimes not. When it doesn't work it gets frustrating as the ears will generally touch the speakerphone touch button and the call will start blasting through the speakers. Awkward when it happens at inappropriate instances.

Need to mention the Do Not Disturb feature as well since I have run into problems with that. Handy feature when you don't want to be disturbed. But use with caution and it comes with useful features. You can schedule the Do Not Disturb period. I Usually set it for night time till early morning. During the activated period calls, messages will be silenced. However you have the flexibility to allow calls from everyone (isn't it stupid to allow calls from everyone when you turn on Do Not Disturb!) or your favourite contacts. You can also turn on repeated calls on/off. If its on then the first call from anyone would be silenced and a second call within quick succession would be allowed to come through. This is specially useful when you get emergency calls when someone desperately tries to reach you several times. For some weird reason whilst the Do Not Disturb was on and Allow calls from Favorites was on....several attempts from a favorite contact didn't come through. Since that day I have turned off that feature. 

Txt messaging
The next most used feature for me is messaging. Every things quite normal except you don't get a set of built in smiley faces to go with the keyboard/typing options. Wait! I lied. Its not turned on by default however a bit of tinkering with the settings will get you a brand new smiley keyboard. Go to settings > general > keyboard > Add new keyboard > Emoji. There you go now you should have a globe icon at the bottom of the keyboard which will bring up the smiley faces...lots of them. And hey I tried Siri, the voice activated assistant to type out a few sentences in a txt message. It understood me half the time and few words always gets messed up. To correct it I have to do the corrections myself manually. Not fun and defeats the purpose of voice activated typing. It stays usually turned off. 

Camera for still pictures
I have not installed any camera apps as I really don't use it to snap any professional looking pictures. Just to snap a few when I'm not carrying my DSLR. The 8 mega pixel cam is fine but not fancy. Barely decent quality pictures come out. Mainly because zoom is digital (gets blurry), no Macro mode, bad noise at high ISO/dim lighting.  The front facing camera is an awful VGA (640 x 480 pixel) cam. Lets stop it at that. 

Apps
So much fun and informative and above else useful when you have the necessary ones installed. I'll mention the few I find very useful. 
Battery Doctor - Turn it on when you are charging and it will give a charging status with remaining time. It will sound off an alarm when charging is complete to prevent over charging. It also gives a lot of useful info like which apps cause how much drain on battery life. Useful. Once you are done using the app tun it off to as it will also kill some battery power. To turn off apps double tap on the home button and at the bottom of the screen you'll see which apps are running in the background. Press and hold one app until the icons start dancing and then tap the cross to close out the running apps. My usual running time is 24 hrs before the battery drains out. So I charge it everyday. I have a car charger as well since battery life of 24hrs is not great. Smart phones are generally low in battery life so iPhone is not much different. 

Runkeeper - Keeps records of my regular walks/jogging and uses in built GPS to track milage run, time, calries burnt etc. Good stuff. 

Bday - App can import facebook bdays of contacts and store them and give reminders. Very useful to not forget important days such as your wifes bday!

I also have a news app, wikipanion, XE currency converter, flashlight, office plus, keeper (to store passwords etc.), Kayak, Agoda, shoutcast, jango radio and another GPS tracker app (google maps is not allowed on iPhone 4S unless the phone is jailbroken and the built in tomtom maps sucks. And also facebook, linkedin, viber, skype social apps. All my apps are free apps and they have served me well. 

I covered what things annoyed me and what things were really useful to my usage of the iPhone. For technical details please google to find plenty of info elsewhere.

Recommend this product? Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 400
Recommended for: Professionals On-the-Go - Internet and Email is a Must!